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LIB RARY OF CONG RESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



FROM DREAMLAND SENT. 



FROM DREAMLAND SENT. 



LILIAN WHITING. 



" birds of ether without wings ! 
O heavenly ships without a sail ! " 




BOSTON: 

ROBERTS BROTHERS. 

1895. 



^ 






Copyright, 1895, 
By Roberts Brothers. 



All rights reserved. 



SStttbersttg ^^tess: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



TO 

KATE FIELD 

THESE VERSES ARE INSCRIBED 
BY 

LILIAN WHITING. 

"And she the rest will comprehend, will comprehend" 



" Sometimes a breath floats by me, 

An odor from Dreamland sent, 
That makes the ghost seem nigh me, 

Of a splendor that came and went; 
Of a life lived somewhere, — / know not 

In what diviner sphere, — 
Of memories that stay not and go not, 

Like music heard once by an ear 
That cannot forget or reclaim it.''"' 

Lowell. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Companioned 13 

The Last Words of the Romance 15 

Happy New Year 17 

An Impromptu ■ .... 19 

Unseen 21 

Answered .22 

To-night 23 

Old and New 25 

In the Morning 26 

A Birthday Wish 28 

Next October 30 

Christmas Greeting 31 

Her Bridal Eve 33 

An Autumn Retrospect 35 

Tell me so 38 

Christmastide 40 

The Three Horsemen 42 

From my Window 44 

Hel^ne 45 

A Summer Memory 46 

The Poet and His Friend .48 

Leone 49 

9 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

June 51 

Good-bye 53 

As IN Vision 55 

On Concord River 57 

Phillips Brooks 58 

Sometime 62 

An Easter Remembrance 64 

Offerings 65 

Consecration 67 

A Vision 69 

Coming 70 

A Fragment 72 

Arbor Vit^ 74. 

Only 76 

A Premonition 77 

The Shepherd's Sunday Song 79 

A Dream of Spring 80 

Two Evenings 82 

A Woman's Letter 84 

Answered 87 

Another Anglomaniac 89 

A Waif 91 

A Vanished Presence 92 

Out in the Years 94 

For You 96 

Her Last Day 97 

Tired 99 

An October Birthday loi 

A Parting 103 

10 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

On Easter Evening 105 

Lilian Adelaide Neilson 107 

In Extremis 109 

Pax Vobiscum no 

A Memory 112 

In Mount Auburn 114 

A Christmas Wish 116 

An Immortal Love 118 

At Peace 120 

A Twilight Memory 121 

For Florence 123 

Since September 125 

From Fire to Frost 129 

A Christmas Message 130 

isabelle 131 

Two Days 133 



II 



FROM DREAMLAND SENT. 



COMPANIONED. 

I^^^ji HROUGH days and dreams I seem to walk 
with one 

Whose feet must shun 
Henceforth, the paths of earth ; for whom the sun 
Rises in unknown realms I cannot trace ; 
And still there is to me no vacant place. 
Before me comes upon the air her face. 
In the deep, luminous and wondering eyes 
I read the rapture of a glad surprise ; 
A tender hand is clasped within my own, 
And on the air there vibrates still her tone. 

O Friend ! on whom the Vision shines to-day. 
What mystic sway 
^3 



^ 



COMPANIONED. 

Hath wrought its spell o'er thee ? What fair desire, 

As o'er that sea of glass with mingled fire 

Thy way hath sped — what fair desire 

Is born within thy soul ? What strange, sweet dreams 

Transfigure thy new life, in wondrous gleams 

Of rose, and gold, and pearl, through starry space ? 

Not vainly do I ask. Thy tender grace 

Answers my love, and brings the new life near ; 

And all our baffled meanings grow more clear. 



14 




THE LAST WORDS OF THE ROMANCE. 

[Fin de Steele.'] 

H, well ; let it pass in silence. 
We '11 forget. 
There are, doubtless, things to live for 
Even yet. 
And life has far nobler uses 
Than regret. 

There are joys that wait our coming 

Down the years. 
Do not think that I shall meet them 

But with tears, — 
That for me life holds no promise, 

Only fears. 

Do not think that I shall idly 

Sit and wait, 
Watching, with the old blind worship. 

Your fair fate. 
This might once have been ; now, truly, 

'T is too late. 
15 



THE LAST WORDS OF THE ROMANCE. 

There are breezy heights my footsteps 

Well may tread. 
There 's a future's radiant promise 

Overhead. 
Naught shall dim its light, not even 

Words you 've said. 

So we '11 let the years slip from us, — 

Suns have set. 
In your life may love and sweetness 

Linger yet. 
And for me — O Father, help me 

To forget ! 



i6 



HAPPY NEW YEAR. 




WISH you a Happy New Year," — the words 
rang sweet and clear. 
Two maidens listened silently the old, sweet 
words to hear; 
And both were thinking joyously of all the year might 

hold, — 
Of all the wondrous treasures the months would find 
enrolled. 

" I wish you a Happy New Year — all that loving 

thought can bring ; 
May it give you unguessed treasures, a fair, fresh 

offering." 
Ah ! little dreamed the maidens in that fair flush of 

light 
Of all the new year held for them, hidden from mortal 

sight. 

For one the orange blossoms, twined in her shining 

hair J 
For one a cross of lilies, in folded hands more fair ; 
17 2 



HAPPY NEW YEAR. 

For one the marriage altar, and bridal robes of white ; 
For one the Heavenly Vision, and angel robes of light. 

For one a close, enfolding love that granted every 
boon ; 

But the other won a tenderer love in the land of fade- 
less bloom; 

One in her winsome happiness was gay and joyous 
there, 

And one in changeless loveliness will be forever fair. 



i8 



AN IMPROMPTU. 

Suggested by the words of M. D. J. Snider, who checked himself 
in terms of compliment to Prof. William T. Harris, saying, 
" He is too great for any praise of mine." 




E is too great for any praise of mine." 

So said the artist whose rare touch had 
wrought 

For us the glow of Grecian morns — the shrine 
Of buried majesty — of living thought. 

He whose fine power had pictured mountains old, 
And brought us draughts from Helicon's pure stream ; 

He who of legend, myth, and poet told, 
Of Delphic oracle and mystic dream ; 

And who, with subtle power, revealed to all 

The listening world immortal Shakespeare's art ; 

He, too, discerns this spell of wisdom's thrall, 
The grand ideal of our Master's heart. 
19 



4 



AN IMPROMPTU. 

Teacher, Philosopher ! our Master still ! 

Thy words thrill life with subtler harmonies ; 
Thy guidance teaches duties to fulfil ; 

Transfigures time in sacred mysteries. 

Thou art too great — we echo still the thought ; 

We reverence thy life as Wisdom's shrine. 
We say, O Master ! all that thou hast wrought, 

" It is too great for any praise of mine." 



20 




UNSEEN. 

We see but half the causes of our deeds, 
Seeking them wholly in the outer life, 
And heedless of the encircling spirit world. 
Which, though unseen, is felt, and sows in us 
All germs of pure and world wide purposes. 

Lowell. 

F He would only help me but once more ! " 
Bending beneath the burden low I cried. 
My eyes were blinded, and I did not see 
The Shining Angel standing at my side. / 

I did not hear the faint, sweet words that fell, — 
Replies that met my spirit's deepest needs. 

I did not heed the touch of holy hands 

That thrilled my own with strength for nobler deeds. 

Oh, Friend, in heaven's sweet peace enfolded now, 
How could I dream your love would find a means 

To ease the burden and to point the way. 
And lead me to the fair hfe of my dreams? 



21 




ANSWERED. 

HAT will the new year bring to us? " 

Thus wrote, last year, a treasured friend. 
"What hold the months in their hidden 
clasp ? 
What rare new gifts will the angels send? " 

Half lightly the words were penned, I know, 
And lightly I read them, one moonlit night, 

When the sunset and moonrise seemed to blend. 
As I watched from the window the changing light. 

Yet, half expectant, I questioned, too, 

Half fearing, half shrinking, from all it might hold ; 
And the darkness deepened around as I stood ; 

And the winter moonlight grew white and cold. 

Again I stand on the threshold 

Of another year untried ; 
The shadow of a sculptured cross 

Falls dimly at my side. 




TO-NIGHT. 

ING to me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 
I sit weary and faint in the lessening light. 
The day so full-freighted with duties has 
past; 
And while it leaves courage and faith at the last. 
Its demands were too many — my hand was too slight, — 
Sing to me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 

Play for me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 
Touch the white keys with your fingers of light ; 
Waken the melodies only your hand 
Can make for my heart in its pleading demand ; 
Dreams half divine at your touch will unite, — 
Play for me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 

Talk to me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 
Your words bring me always the Vision, the Light. 
Tell me how even our faltering hands 
Can wrest from this life our divinest demands ; 
Bring me your insight, your faith in the Right, — 
Talk to me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 
23 



TO-NIGHT. 

Pray for me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 
For the world grows dark with the fading light ; 
The night wind is chill, the snowdrifts are heaping. 
The stars have grown weary their watches of keeping ; 
My spirit from earth would be winging her flight, — 
Pray for me, darling, O darling, to-night ! 



24 




OLD AND NEW. 

HE old year out and the new year in, 
We watched for the dawning to begin ; 
And the radiant glow of the moonlight fair 
Shone soft o'er all through the silvered air. 

The old year out and the new year in, — 
Ah, love, what chapters of life begin? 
What pages are turned, what records read. 
To be laid away with the year now dead ? 

And what shows the new year's horoscope? 
Shall doubt and failure be changed to hope? 
Shall fulfilments come, — so fondly prized, — 
And its aspirations be realized ? 

Only one truth shall this Time confess, — 
Work truly done is its own success ! 
And this alone its rewards shall win. 
In the old year out, or the new year in. 



25 



r 



IN THE MORNING. 

" And with the dawn those angel faces smile 
That I have loved long since, and lost awhile." 




N the quiet hush of morning, 
Ere the sunUght glories fall, 
In their rose and gold of radiance 
Gleaming from my chamber wall ; 
Ere the day, so duty-laden, 

Comes to meet me, all untried, 
Glide angelic forms around me 

Who from earth have turned aside. 

In the stillness of the dawning 

I can see their faces fair, 
And their robes of snowy whiteness, 

And the gleam of shining hair ; 
I can hear them murmur softly 

As they bend my pillow o'er ; 
I can catch the distant music 

Wafted from an unseen shore. 
26 



IN THE MORNING. 

One who in her life's fair morning 

Turned her from the busy way, 
Glad to greet the golden dawning 

In the land of perfect day, — 
Ah, her hands were folded whitely ! 

From their clasp the lilies fell ! 
Yet she comes, in radiant beauty. 

Of her strange new life to tell. 

Intimations throng upon us, 

By these presences unseen. 
Of that spirit world which lieth 

Nearer than we sometimes dream. 
And the days take on new meanings ; 

Finer forces seem to rise ; 
Life, transfigured, gains new vision, 

Sees the gleam of fairer skies. 



27 



A BIRTHDAY WISH. 

" Wearing the white flower of a blameless life." 




HAT can I wish for thee, O friend of mine ! 
In all the bloom and beauty of the May? 
Thou, whose fair life the poet's words por- 
tray. 
Wearing the white flower with its breath divine. 



Wealth, power, and honor do I ask for thee ; 

Yet not the wealth that 's counted but in gold ; 

The riches of right-doing — purpose told 
In deeds that stamp thy life with majesty. 

m. 

Power, — not to use but for thyself alone, 

But power to strengthen hands that else were weak, 
And power to bring high thought to them that seek, 

And lead from all that 's known to the Unknown. 
28 



A BIRTHDAY WISH. 
IV. 

The honor that must come from being true 
Unto the Heavenly Vision, — which shall shine 
Ever upon your way, — its light divine 

Transfiguring all old meanings into new. 

V. 

Thus do I pray for thee in these May days 

That dawn with bloom and light and sweetness rife ; 
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life, 

Your footsteps set in His appointed ways. 



</ 



29 



NEXT OCTOBER. 




EXT October, next October, 

When the leaves are scarlet dyed, 
We shall watch the sunbeams sifting 
Through the shadows purple, drifting. 
Then as now, love, side by side. 

Next October, Next October, 

In the autumn's dreamy light. 
Shall our skies of life be bluer, 
And the clouds of doubt be fewer 

Than they are, O love, to-night ! 

Next October, next October, — 

Ah, the words sound faint and far ; 
For perchance some mystic meaning 
In our lives shall prove its seeming, 

And a year may make or mar. 



30 




CHRISTMAS GREETING. 

l^JVi^A Flowers^ 

NTO the blessed Christmas-time 

(With a lily for love and a rose for rhyme) 
I send you, sweetest, the fairest things 
That ever the Christmas greeting brings, — 
Love, and belief, and faith in the right, 
I give to you, darling, this Christmas night. 

Into the gladness of Christmas days 

(With a lily for love and a rose for praise) 

I send to you visions that flash from afar 

Of the Child, of the glory, the magical Star ; 

And a voice rings out on the air again 

That message of peace and good-will toward men. 

Into the music of Christmas bells, 
(With a lily for love and a rose that tells) 
Its wonderful legend that Paradise lies 
All round about him whose spirit-touched eyes 
Can discern that the life wrought in beauty and love 
Makes on earth the same heaven we read of above, — 
31 



CHRISTMAS GREETING. 

Into this glory of Christmas dawn 

(With a lily for love and a rose for song) 

I send you greeting and gladness and flowers ; 

I commend you to all the heavenly powers : 

That still nearer may draw in the Christmas days, 

With a lily for love and a rose for praise. 



32 




HER BRIDAL EVE. 

HIGH will you be, — 

True to yourself, love, and loyal to me ? 

Will all your care and your tenderness last ; 
Or will I be wakened to find my dreams past? 
Will you brighten my life, or bid happiness flee, — 
Which will it be ? 

What do you think? 

Ah, wonder not that from the future I shrink. 

That I tremble lest soon shall the witchery fade. 

The magic dissolve, and the light change to shade ; 

That my feet will tread closely on sorrow's dark brink, — 

What do you think? 

What will you say 

When beside you I walk through each beautiful day? 

Will you draw me with you to heights distant and fair ? 

Will you lead me to happiness sacred and rare ? 

Will your love make me stronger and nobler each 

day,— 
What do you say? 

33 3 



HER BRIDAL EVE. 

What will you do 

If I tell you my faith rests on faith, love, in you ; 

That I 'm yours if you hold me, beloved, by your side ; 

That else I am gone, like the sea's ebbing tide : 

You can glorify life, or bid happiness flee : 

Which will it be ? 



34 




AN AUTUMN RETROSPECT. 

^GAIN October walks the hills 
On which the summer lingers ; 
Again she flings her colors brave, 
Painting with skilful fingers 
The maple in its scarlet dyes ; 

The beech to gold is turning ; 
A purple haze broods o'er the days 

In mystical, vague yearning. 
As if it sought to fling its veil 

Of memories, sweet and tender, 
O'er all the vanished light and bloom, 
The summer's pomp and splendor. 

Untutored in the poet's art, 

I yet essay his singing ; 
Though all the woodland haunts are fair, 

And echo to the ringing 
Of songs, breeze-blown from Paradise, 

Of softer music flowing 
Than on the elfin horns of eld 

The fairy folk were blowing. 
35 



AN AUTUMN RETROSPECT. 

With hands unskilled to touch the lyre, 

And empty of all treasure, 
Unmeet to light the altar fire 

Or chord the rhythmic measure, — 

I needs must come, O love, to-day, 

And plead to lay before you 
A hope, a faith, a memory sweet, 

Whose gift and grace are o'er you. 
The summer's vanished days have held 

For you, for me, their sadness ; 
And still the autumn light shines fair. 

And radiates a gladness 
That thrills the air as \iher voice 

Death's silence strange had broken, — 
Bringing the message to rejoice. 

To know the love unspoken. 

Oh, human love ! Oh, love divine ! 

October, month of angels, 
Bring each to make our lives a shrine 

Sacred to thy Evangels ! 
Bring hope, bring faith, to hearts that plead ! 

Grant fortune's fairest treasure 
To meet, O love, your daily need 

In over-flowing measure. 
36 



AN AUTUMN RETROSPECT. 

So do I pray this autumn day, 
And send you grace and greeting ; 

And to my prayer upon the air 
May angels make completing ! 



37 




TELL ME SO. 

F you love me, tell me so. 
Wait not till the summer glow 
Fades in autumn's changeful light, 

Amber clouds and purple night ; 

Wait not till the winter hours 

Heap with snowdrifts all the flowers, 

Till the tide of life runs low, — 

If you love me, tell me so. 

If you love me, tell me so. 

While the river's dreamy flow 

Holds the love-enchanted hours. 

Steeped in music, crowned with flowers ; 

Ere the summer's vibrant days 

Vanish in the opal haze ; 

Ere is hushed the music flow, — 

If you love me, tell me so. 

If you love me, tell me so. 
Let me hear the sweet words low ; 
38 



TELL ME SO. 

Let me now, while life is fair. 
Feel your kisses on my hair ; 
While in womanhood's first bloom, 
Ere shall come dark days of gloom, 
In the first fresh dawning glow, — 
If you love me, tell me so. 



39 




CHRISTMASTIDE. 

AST Christmas, love, I did not guess, 
When silver bells were chiming, 
Of all the melodies of life 
. The months for me were rhyming. 

How could I know or dream, O love. 
When summer hours were dying. 

That ere the spars of frosty bars 
On winter hills were lying, — 

That ere another Christmastide 

The holiest of all sweetness. 
The fairest gift of all my life 

Should crown its incompleteness ! 

Ah, love ! the years may come and go, 

But in our hearts we '11 treasure 
The Christ's white flowers that bloom for us 

In such bewildering measure. 
40 



CHRISTMASTIDE. 

For His dear sake who gives to us 

The fragrance of their beauty, 
We '11 seek His work where'er there 's need, - 

Where life hath claim or duty. 

And, love, when Christmas flowers shall blow 

On heavenly heights before me, 
I only ask that I may know 

Your tender care still o'er me. 



41 




THE THREE HORSEMEN. 

{From the German of Uhland.) 

^HREE horsemen halted the inn before ; 
Three horsemen entered the open door, 
And loudly called for the welcome cheer 
That was wont to greet the traveller here. 

" Good woman," they cried, as the hostess came, — 
A buxom, rosy, portly old dame, — 
" Good woman, where is your wine and beer? " 
And how is your little daughter dear? " 

" My house is ever supplied with cheer. 
But my daughter lieth upon her bier." 

A shadow over the horsemen fell, 

Each wrapped in thoughts he could never tell ; 

And silently, one by one, they crept 

To the darkened room where the maiden slept. 

The golden hair fell, rippling low. 
Over a forehead as pure as snow ; 
And the little hands were idly pressed. 
Clasping a cross to the pulseless breast. 
42 



THE THREE HORSEMEN: 

" I loved thee ere the death chill lay 

On thee, sweet child," and one turned away ; 

" I would have loved thee," the second said, 

" Hadst thou learned to love me, and lived to wed." 

" I loved thee ever, I love thee now," 
The last one cried, as he kissed her brow. 
" In the heavens to come our souls shall wed ; 
I have loved thee living, I love thee dead." 

Then silently out from the oaken door 
Three horsemen passed, to return no more. 



43 




FROM MY WINDOW. 

f|HE sunset burning low 

Falls on the Charles, — a flood of golden 
light. 

Dimly, as in a dream, I watch the fl:OW 
Of waves of light. 

The splendor of the hour 

Repeats its glory in the river's flow; 
And sculptured angels from the gray church tower 

Gaze on the throngs below. 

Dimly, by gift or grace, 

I see the hurrying throngs before me pass ; 
Yet 'mid them all I only see one face 

Under the meadow gra^. 

Ah, love, I only know 

How thoughts of you forever cling to me ; 
I wonder how the seasons come and go 

Beyond the Sapphire Sea? 



44 




HfiLENE. 

DO not find you in the outer life ; 
Always I see you in those gardens fair, 
With starry jasmine shining in your hair, 

Afar from noise and fret of jarring strife 

With which the day and daylight world is rife. 

Always I see you in those regions where 

Music and fragrance linger on the air. 

Flower of all Cities ! City of all Flowers ! 

'T is there I see you in the charmed hours, 

Where she who " sang of Italy " still lies 
Beneath the glory of the starlit skies, 
Whose beauty held her in a glad surprise. 
Fair in the grace of that enchanted land, 
With jasmine in your hair, I see you stand. 



45 



A SUMMER MEMORY. 




VER the summer's dreamy days, 
Over the labyrinthine ways, 
O, fall tenderly, autumn haze ! 



Softly, softly from mortal sight 
Cover the day and cover the night 
Forever, forever, O mists of light ! 

Let the deep heart of the summertide 
Ever its innermost secrets hide, — 
All of the anguish and all of the pride. 

Never reveal, O roses in bloom, 
Down in the dark of your winter tomb, 
Aught of the glory or aught of the gloom ! 

Cover it gently, O autumn leaves, 
Down in the depths of your wind-tossed sheaves 
Deep, where the moaning night-wind grieves. 
46 



A SUMMER MEMORY. 

Shine on it softly, O stars of night ! 

Let but a fitful gleam of light 

Fall on the pages hidden from sight. 

Over the summer's vanished days. 
Over the labyrinthine ways, 
O, fall silently, autumn haze ! 



47 




THE POET AND HIS FRIEND. 

HE Poet read to me his verses 
(I could not get away). 
I heard, " This earth 's a chilling 
desert" — 
(The air was soft as May) ; 
And though I had my own convictions, 
I could not say him nay. 

For surely he who is a poet 

Should better know than I. 

To him the summer tells her secrets, — 

The winds and stars reply ; 

To him all Paradise is open, 

And he should know — not I. 

Still, all the loveliness of living 
Thrilled me anew ; the glow 
Of all the sunset's dreamy splendor. 
Far in the west burned low. 
And as I watched its changeful glory 
I wondered, — " Did he know? " 
48 




LEONE. 

F I had known, O friend so loved, 
That ere another autumn came. 
Painting the trees in colors rare, 
Setting the maples all aflame ; 

That ere the dreamy, purple light 
Lay low and still o'er all the land. 

That in the autumn hush and peace 
Alone and lonely I should stand, — 

I should have come to you, O love, 
In the fair summer's vanished calm. 

Nor waited, dreaming that to you 

The weeks would bring a healing balm. 

How could I know that when I came 
Your loving words and smiles to crave, 

I should be led in silent tears 

To stand beside a new-made grave ? 
49 4 



LEONE. 

Still, shall communion sweet be ours : 
Trust that shall evennore remain ; 

For life divides, while death imites. 
And gives us back our own again. 

And when at last our Father's voice 
Shall call us to a happier home, 

His messenger — our guide — shall be 
An angel whom we call — Leone 1 



50 




JUNE. 

UMMERS may come and summers may go, 
But never another will be, I know, 
So full of greenness and fragrance and 
bloom, 
So laden with sunshine and rare perfume, 
So full of its mystic, intangible lore ; 
Oh, there never was summer like this before ! 

Other summers were fragrant and fair. 
Purple shadows have trailed through the air : 
Clouds of pearl and of amethyst 
Have glimmered through a silvery mist : 
Sunsets have gleamed with their golden glow. 
But no summer was ever like this, I know. 

The summers that wait in the coming years 
May be full of sadness and full of tears ; 
The starry nights that are now so fair 
May be darkened then by a weight of care, 
And the sunshine and song, the greenness and glow, 
May change to sorrow and trial, I know ; 
51 



JUNE. 

Yet trial brings with it the strength to endure : 
God sends us no sorrows that have not some cure. 
So the thought of a possible grief-darkened day 
Shall not dim the sweet prophecies haunting my way. 
No trial that waits in some far-away June 
Shall cloud this wonderful, mystical bloom. 

Ah, love ! the summer a year ago 

Was full of a blossoming grace, I know ; 

The sunshine sifted through swaying trees, 

The lilies beckoned the wandering breeze ; 

But a voice that is now my music, I know, 

Had not called through the silences one year ago. 

So the summers may come and the summers may go ; 

Nothing can shadow this golden glow. 

Never from out my life shall fade 

This love that is perfect and undismayed ; 

For on through the years we together shall go. 

Though there never come summer like this below. 



52 




GOOD-BYE. 

OVE, good-bye ! 

Sunset colors gem the sky : 
And the perfume-haunted breeze. 
Drifting through these swaying trees, 
Stirs them to faint symphonies. 
Song of bird, and fountain playing, 
Sunshine o'er the roses straying, — 
None of these may bring delaying ; 
For the parting hour draws nigh : 
Love, good-bye. 

Let them go ! 
June's fair roses, winter's snow : 
Hours of sweetness, hours of pain. 
Hours that may not come again, 
And we ask them all in vain ! 
They are gone ; but do you find, love. 
You can put them out of mind, love ? 
Can you leave them quite behind, love ? 
Do I hear you answer, low ? 

Let them go ! 

53 



GOOD-BYE. 

They may pass, 
Shadow-like, o'er meadow grass. 
Not to these lost hours I cling ; 
I would only hold one thing, 
Won from pain and suffering : 
Let me keep this fairest gleaming, 
My ideal of you, — seeming 
Real, as in my sweetest dreaming. 
All things else may fade away, 

This must stay. 

But one prayer 
Lips may breathe or heart may share : 
Leave to me the friend I knew 
In ideal faith ; keep true 
To those aims that hold but few. 
Summer days, oh, bring your sweetness. 
As ye pass in mystic fleetness. 
Crowning life with fair completeness ! 
Be yours all achievement high ; 

Love, good-bye 1 



54 



AS IN VISION. 




ITTLE girl upon the street, 

Laughing eyes and tripping feet, 
With your hands all running over 

Daisy blooms and flowers of clover, 

You to me a picture bring 

Of a long-lost sunny spring ; 

Waving woods and sunset skies 

Rise like dreams of paradise. 



Little girl, when coming days 
Hold for you their memories ; 
When in womanhood's fair land 
You shall, haply, one day stand, — 
Keep your childish faiths as sweet 
As the blossoms at your feet ; 
Though your hands no more run over 
With the daisies and the clover. 

55 



AS IN VISION. 

m. 
Some day, little maiden fair, 
With the wind-tossed, sunny hair. 
Shall you flush at love's sweet praises. 
That are sweeter than the daisies ; 
Woman's hopes and woman's love, 
Sweetness sent by heaven above, — 
With these shall your hands run over. 
Dropping daisy blooms and clover. 



56 



ON CONCORD RIVER. 




NLY while the lilies blow 

Shall our boat be drifting low ; 
While the flush of sunset light 
Fades into the purple night, 
While the whippoorwills are singing, 
And the twilight breeze is bringing 
Dreams of lands in sunset glow, 
Shall our boat be drifting low. 

Only while the lilies blow, 
While winds murmur soft and low. 
Shall we drift on, love, together 
In the golden summer weather. 
Dreams of perfumes haunt us yet, 
Eglantine and mignonette. 
Though our boat is drifting low 
Only while the liHes blow. 



57 




PHILLIPS BROOKS. 

[The Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, S. T. D., LL.D., Bishop of 
Massachusetts, entered into that rest which remaineth to the 
people of God, Jan. 23, 1893.] 

Thy own loved Church in sadness read 
Her solemn ritual o'er thy head, 
And, blessed and hallowed with her prayer, 
The turf laid lightly on thee there. 

Whittier. 

H, where shall we lay our deep sorrow, 
How speak of our loss, 
That our noblest of friends has been given 
The Crown for the Cross? 

Since he, whom we knew but to honor. 

To love and revere. 
Who brought to all hearts the Glad Tidings 

In messages clear, — 

Whose hands, with their pure benediction, 

Uplifted in prayer. 
Were our pledge of the Saviour's direction, 

His guidance and care, — 
58 



PHILLIPS BROOKS. 

Since he, our pastor and helper, 

So tenderly dear, 
Has gone to the Wonderful Country 

That lieth so near ! 

And now, in the hush of the morning. 

In its silence and calm, 
We would gather a few leaves of healing, 

For sorrow a balm. 

Our friend — full of gifts and of honors, 

Of rare culture and grace. 
Of sweetness and faith that no other 

Can hope to replace — 

Has fought the good fight, and has entered 

The rest that God gave ; 
And the lives he has blessed bring the tribute 

We lay on his grave. 

For all, in his presence uplifting. 

Were exalted and cheered ; 
And virtue seemed more to be cherished, 

And sin to be feared. 
59 



PHILLIPS BROOKS. 

O hearts, whose sorrowful longings 

His ministry blessed, — 
O souls, whose divinest aspiring 

His teachings expressed, — 

O Church, where as pastor and Bishop 

He faithfully taught, — 
Bring your tears, and your love, and your gladness 

For the work that he wrought ! 

Bring your thanks, O Church universal. 

O'er land and o'er sea ! 
For the tears of two nations shall mingle, 

Our Bishop, for thee. 

Oh, still, from that life thou hast entered. 

Behold us, we pray ! 
Vouchsafe still to guide and direct us. 

And teach us the Way. 

May we feel that ever upon us 

Are the vows of the Lord ; 
May our lives be more worthy thy teaching, 

And show forth God's word ; 
60 



PHILLIPS BROOKS. 

And still, when for help and forgiveness 

Imploring we kneel, 
In the peace of a sweet benediction. 

Thy hands may we feel. 

Oh, still, to thy sorrowing children, 
Give the Bread and the Wine ; 

When we wait, in remembrances holy, 
The tokens divine. 

Commune with us yet in the spirit, 

Our Bishop, we pray ; 
Till for us, on the wings of the morning, 

Dawns the Heavenly Day ! 



6i 




SOMETIME. 

OMETIME you'll think of these summer 
days 
Dreamily drifting through purple haze. 



Sometime, with a thrill of passionate pain, 
You '11 long for their sweetness over again. 

Sometime, when the moonlight is silvering all. 
And the pansies sleep by the garden wall, — 

In the mystic twilight's odorous dusk. 
Freighted with clustering rose-bloom's musk, — 

You will watch for a flitting figure there, 
White-robed and noiseless, with falling hair. 

And gazing deep in the luminous eyes 
That made for your life its paradise, — 

The silence and music and wonderful calm 
Of this magical summer will linger like balm, — 
62 



SOMETIME. 

Till, Starting, you waken to clasp but air, 
And list to a flitting footfall there. 

Sometime you '11 listen in silence lone 
For a girlish voice that was all your own ; 

For words that only to you were given. 
Telling of love and the sweetness of heaven. 

Sometime you 'd give all the wise world's praise 
For one of these vanishing summer days. 

For just one leaf from the swaying bough, — 
Sometime you 'd clasp it ; oh, why not now ? 



^7. 




AN EASTER REMEMBRANCE. 
[To .] 

Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 

— John XX. 29. 

|0 you, O love, all greetings go. 
Whene'er a festival appears : 
All the glad days of all the years 
Set toward you with their joyous flow. 

So, on this resurrection morn, 
Sublime with messages that give 
New meaning to the years we live — 

When a diviner life is born, — 

I turn me, Sweet, to ask for you 

Glad beauty, sunshine, flowers, and love ; 
All sweetest gifts of Heaven above 

Make, for your sake, the world anew. 

His peace be yours — His love enfold ! 

The Easter sun shines down in glory ; 

All hearts are thrilling to its story, 
And from the grave the stone is rolled ! 
64 




OFFERINGS. 

The only gift is a portion of thyself. — EMERSON. 

OR all that you have been to me, 
Of light and joy and melody, 
What can I offer, love, to thee? 

What can I plead thy life may hold? 
Renown and riches, gems and gold? 
A fair success, and honors told ? 

Ah, I can only breathe one prayer, — 
Angels be with thee everywhere. 
In guidance and in tenderest care. 

I only know that by your side 

My life is thrilled and glorified, 

And heavenly peace seems flowing wide. 

For all the kindness you have shown, 
For every tender word and tone, 
More precious than before I 've known, — 
65 5 



OFFERINGS. 

I thank you : even in her name 

Who long beneath the flowers hath lain, 

Unmoved by sunshine or by rain ; 

O'er whose sweet rest the lilies blow ; 
O'er whose unbroken slumbers low 
Unheeding falls the sunset glow. 

O love ! my love, when other hands 
More dear than mine across the strands 
Of future life shall plead demands, — 

When other arms than mine shall fold 

You tenderly, in sheltering hold 

More strong, and true, and self-controlled, 

Oh, then remember how my prayer. 
My tenderest thought, my sweetest care. 
Go with thee, dearest, everywhere. 



66 



CONSECRATION. 




I FATHER ! not for worldly wealth 

We pray to Thee to-day ; 

We only ask for faith to tread 



The straight and narrow way. 

For we would walk so near to Thee, 

Encircled by Thy love, 
That we may ever catch the gleams 

Of glory from above. 

O Father ! to Thy will we bow ! 

And lead us all to see 
How, even in the darkest hours. 

We're closer drawn to Thee. 

God's plans and purposes to us 
May oft seem strange and dim ; 

But where we cannot understand. 
We trust it all to Him. 
67 



CONSECRA TION. 

And of the hopes, yet unfulfilled, 

Help us to truly say, 
The prayers that oft unanswered seem 

Are answered in His way. 

O Father ! make us wholly Thine, 

Grant us Thy loving care. 
And when life's labor all is done, 

May we Thy glory share I 



68 




A VISION. 

ROM the tropic air of the city 

I 'm turning, O darling ! to you, 
Where your feet tread the shining lihes, 
White and fragrant in morning dew. 

I catch a breath of their perfume. 

Of the breezy, life-giving air. 
And there rises before me your face, love, 

In its framing of golden-touched hair. 



69 




COMING. 

AR out in the untried future fair 
Waiteth for you a treasure rare ; 
Patiently waiting, noticed by none, 
In dust and darkness until you come. 
Only your eye shall catch its gleam ; 
To others, it ever must be unseen. 

It is yours — God fashioned it rich and rare. 
Long hath it lain awaiting you there. 

Out in the Future, star- crowned and bright, 
Waiteth for you a dawning of light. 

It is coming to you, no other shall prize 

The glowing tints that for you arise. 
On your path alone shall its light be shed. 
Illuming the way that your feet must tread. 

Though darkness and doubt overshadow just here. 

Be patient and trustful, — the dawning is near. 
70 * 



COMING. 

Down some still pathway leading to you 
There is walking a friend, brave, loving, and true. 
He is coming to meet you, he needeth no guide 
To find the one destined to walk by his side. 
Your paths will soon meet, and you surely will know 
The heart that is yours for the life-work below ; 

A love tender, trustful, with yours shall soon blend, — 
The sweetest, best gift that our Father can send. 

Your life is all ready and waiting for you. 

Not all of its gifts come at once, it is true : 

They are scattered along, — you will not fail to find, 
If you walk in the way so divinely designed. 

Faint prophecies often will haunt you ; and gleams 

Of pleasant things coming will flit through your dreams. 
Sweet glimpses of days beyond range of your view« 
Yet still they are formed, and are coming to you. 



71 




A FRAGMENT. 

NLY a dream of wild, white waves 
Creeping up over silent sands ; 
Only a kneeling figure there, 
With head low bowed and clasped hands. 

Only a waste of waters wild 

Stretching far as the eye could see ; 

With a line of light that peacefully lay 
Like the silent shore of Eternity. 

A flitting flush of lambent light 

Glowed through the purple twilight there ; 
But I only saw that kneeling form, 

With head low bowed and floating hair. 



O friend ! whose life-barque, fair and frail. 
Floated out on the tide that night. 

Thy spirit lingered upon the shore 

In voiceless prayer for the dawn of light. 
72 



A FRAGMENT. 

The clasped hands I saw in dreams 

Were those that had lingered oft in mine ; 

The low-bowed head with the floating hair 
Had knelt with me at the Sacred Shrine. 

And standing now on the waveless shore 
Of the dark and dim unsounded sea, 

I catch a glimpse of an angel form 

That watches and waits to welcome me. 

And I know the waiting will not be long. 

The light around me grows faint and dim. 
I can almost reach the clasping hands, 

I catch a strain of the choral hymn. 



73 




ARBOR VIT^. 

NCE in summer days long gone, 
Wandering, idly, o'er the lawn, 
In the Junetide's crimson bloom, 
Fragrant with a faint perfume, 
We had lingered where the glow 
Burning in the sunset low 

Flamed like fire among the leaves 
Of the arbor-vitae trees. 

Half-unconsciously, the tide 

Of our words and laughter died ; 

And a faint and undefined 

Prescience, dim, was in each mind. 
Just an instant's haunting fear. 
Just a touch of loss was near, 

Just a breath that stirred the leaves 

Of the arbor-vitse trees. 



74 



ARBOR VITM. 

When the autumn's purple haze 

Lay upon the dreamy days, 

When the world, so care-oppressed, 
In a deep peace seemed to rest, 

Wandered I, alone, one day, 

O beloved one ! where you lay, 
Clasping but one spray of leaves 
From those arbor-vitse trees. 

Folded hands and closed eyes. 

Rest ! there is no sacrifice. 
Tired hands forever stilled. 
Sweetest dreaming now fulfilled ! 

Thou hast found the fairer land, 

And, O love, I see thee stand. 
Far from earthly fret and strife, 
'Neath the fadeless Tree of Life. 



75 



ONLY. 




NLY a touch, a whisper, 
I said, would banish unrest ; 
Only a glance from the eyes I love 
Will make my life so blest. 
And I heeded not there that the sun shone fair. 
And the wind came out of the west. 

Only the old-time music 

Of songs that my spirit caught. 

Only a vanished presence, 

Only a loving thought, 

And I failed to hear the music near. 

With which the air was fraught. 



76 




A PREMONITION. 

OU 'RE dreaming now of coming days, 
Of woodland walks and sunny ways, 
When we, whose paths so long have lain 
So wide apart, shall meet again ; 
You say the time will soon be o'er. 
And we shall meet to part no more, 
No more ! 

You count the many happy years 
Of sweetest hopes with no dark fears ; 
You paint our lives in colors fair, 
Without one thought of pain or care ; 
All love and happiness in store 
When we shall meet to part no more, 
No more ! 

But all the while you talk to me 

A voice is whispering silently, 

That tells me, ere the coming spring, 

When buds and blossoms round you cUng, 

77 



A PREMONITION. 

It tells me clearer than before 
That I shall meet you, love, no more, 
No more ! 

And 't is not that in foreign lands 
I shall not hear your sweet demands, - 
'T is not that you will love me less. 
Leaving me to forgetfulness, — 
Our hearts will cling as ne'er before, 
But, darling, we shall meet no more, 
No more ! 

And when the summer violets meet 
O'er folded hands whose rest is sweet,- 
When all your words of tenderness 
Unheeded fall in silentness, — 
Ah, pray that when your life is o'er, 
We'll meet, O love ! to part no more, 
No more 1 



78 




THE SHEPHERD'S SUNDAY SONG. 

{From the German of Uhland.) 

HIS is the day of the Lord. 

In the wide fields alone am I here. 
Only one morning-bell more, 
Silence then far and from near. 

Kneeling, I worship Thee here. 

Oh, sweet dread inspired by Thee ! 
As if many, unseen, were near, 

And praying with me. 

The heavens are everywhere, 

So solemn and clear. 
Complete as if they would open, — 

The day of the Lord is here ! 



79 




A DREAM OF SPRING. 

" Thou bringest me flowers, thou bringest me songs, — 
Bring back the love I have lost." 

[INLY to know, only to know 
ilM! How the daisies bloom and the grasses grow 
On the sunny slope of a Western height, 
Bathed in the springtime's misty light ; 
Where the golden glow of the sunsets fair 
Blend the rose and the gold in the azure air ; 
Only to know, only to know 
How the ivies twine and the grasses grow ! 

Only to know, only to know 
How fair are those hills in the evening glow ! 
Only to feel the mosses deep. 
Cool and soft from their winter sleep ; 
To find again, 'neath sheltering trees, 
The first faint gleam of anemones ; 
Only to know, only to know 
How the brook is singing its music low ! 
80 



A DREAM OF SFRII^G. 

Only to know, only to know, 

How sweet she sleeps in her bed so low ; 

Only to know how the grasses wave 

Over her rest in that hillside grave, 

Where the brook's faint ripple is ever heard. 

And the voice of the winds in the maples stirred ; 

Only to know, only to know. 

How for her the seasons shall come and go ! 




TWO EVENINGS. 



]Y the couch with snowy hangings, 
Held by sculptured angels fair, 
Florence, whitely robed for slumber, 
Knelt to say her evening prayer ; 
Knelt to ask the loving Saviour 

For His touch on lip and brow : 
" Blessed Jesus, make me holy ; 
Let me be an angel now." 



Shimmering folds of misty laces 

O'er the deep bay window hung ; 
Fragrant perfumes floating through them 

On the night air faintly flung. 
And the carpet's crimson roses 

Strewn upon a mossy ground 
Seemed to twine o'er marble statues, 

Whitely gleaming, all around. 
82 



TWO EVENINGS. 

III. 
Once again the shimmering moonbeams, 

In that chamber dim and fair, 
Fall on hands all lily-laden, 

Linger on the golden hair ; 
With a touch of peace prophetic 

Rest on cheek, and lip, and brow. 
For the childish prayer was answered : 

Florence is an angel now. 



83 




A WOMAN'S LETTER. 

AYS that are lost in sweetness, dim in their 
amethyst light, 
That fade into rose-toned sunsets, and star- 
crowned, silvery nights ; 
Days that are dim with sweetness, yet sad in their 

mystery. 
For you are alone by the mountains, and I am alone by 
the sea ! 

Only for this one tnought, love, the days would be all 

too fair. 
They are days of magic and music, days weighted with 

treasure rare ; 
With treasures of art and of story, for which I had 

asked so long, 
Till the wish was its own fulfilment, and prayer was 

changed into song. 

84 



A WOMAN'S LETTER. 

And if I ask for life's gifts, love, and seek for its fairest 
prize, 

If I plead for its grace and sweetness, and even long 
to be wise, 

It is only that I may bring you, dear, all that your love 
can dream. 

And make of our far, fair future what it may some- 
times seem, 

I know when you watch the sunsets fade on the Alban 

hills. 
While with brush or pencil you loiter while the purple 

evening fills 
The valleys and defiles with beauty, — I know you are 

thinking of me 
As you watch the hght on the mountains and I watch 

the light on the sea ! 

And sometimes I catch a glimpse, love, of a mystical 

morning fair, 
When I in the Seven-Hilled City shall forget that this 

life has care. 
You may dream on over your pictures, and I will pen 

rhymes, it may be. 
But you will not loiter alone, then, nor be watching and 
waiting for me ! 

85 



A WOMAN'S LETTER. 

Yet the sea rolls darkly between us, and its pulses 

come and go : 
I linger beside it, beloved, to catch the ebb and the 

flow; 
And watching the mystic shadows that faintly rise and 

fall, 
I cling to the Infinite Love, dear, that ever is over us 

all! 



86 



ANSWERED. 




OD bless you and keep you, my darling ! " 
So I said to you only last May, 
As we sat 'mid the ferns and the mosses 
In the woods that sunny spring day. 
" God bless you and keep you forever." 

One kiss, — and we each turned away. 
Turned away from the ferns and the mosses 
In the woods that morning in May. 

Our life-paths that through many summers 

So closely together had lain 
Diverged on that lovely May morning. 

And widened apart o'er life's plain ; 
But we looked at the heights far before us, 

And rejoiced in the sunshine that lay 
Illuming the ferns and the mosses 

In the woods that lovely spring day. 
87 



ANSWERED, 

" God bless you and keep you forever \ 

Ah, darling ! He will evermore. 
But my tears are falling so thickly 

I see not the shining shore ; 
I see not the throngs of bright angels,, 

But I know that our Angle is there, 
And I feel how in truest wisdom 

Our Father has answered my prayer. 



%Z 



ANOTHER ANGLOMANIAC. 
To Lady Henry Somerset. 




NEVER dreamed I should become 
An Anglomaniac ; 
My thoughts on England's peerage 
great 
Be stretched as on a rack ; 
That pomp and circumstance and rank 

And prestige, place or power, 
Should hold such strange significance 
To stamp the passing hour. 

But when she came, our Ladye Faire, 

With wondrous charm and grace. 
This " daughter of an hundred earls," 

To whom no power or place 
Can prestige add — she lends to these 

That else might somewhat lack — 
For her sweet sake I 've come to be 

An Anglomaniac. 

89 



ANOTHER ANGLOMANIAS 

Fair Daughter of an Hundred Earls ! 

Thy rank no peerage holds, 
The winning magic of thy smile 

The larger life enfolds. 
The world be beautiful to thee, 

O queen of hearts, I pray ! 
Sunshine be fair, and roses bloom 

About thy path alway. 



90 



A WAIF. 

HE day had been dark and cloudy, 
But just at the sunset hour 
Came a gleam of light through the shadows 



That fell with a magical power ; 
That fell on our hearts like music, 

Chasing the shadows away, 
Till the darkness and gloom around us 

All fled with the weary day. 

And as brightly the glowing sunset 

Came with its rosy light, 
And the golden shades still lingered. 

Tinging the gloom of night, — 
So, ever, I thought, through life's journey. 

Though darkened and sad be the days. 
Yet the sunset, at last, that He sendeth 

Will be brightened by heavenly rays. 



91 




A VANISHED PRESENCE. 

And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire . . . 
stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. — Rev. xv. 2. 

In Memory of Phillips Brooks. 

I. 

HE lilies bloom again ; 

The Easter sunshine floods the world with 
light. 

But he, whose voice had made this day so glad, 
Has vanished from our sight. 

II. 

What visions has he seen ? 
What has he found the other side of life ? 
Beyond the sunrise — past the morning star — 

What worlds with glory rife, — 

in. 
What strange, sweet mysteries 
Have dawned upon his vision ere to-day? 
What sea of glass and mingled fire hath shone 
Before his onward way? 

92 



A VANISHED PRESENCE. 

IV. 

He whose majestic form, 
Clad in its priestly robes, in sacred hours. 
Hath linked our Easters to the heavenly realm, 

Revealed the unseen powers, — 

V. 

Shall he not send today 
A spirit message that our hearts may hear? 
Shall we not catch, through all the silences, — 

" Lo, I am ever near, — 

VI. 

"Near you, Beloved, still; 
When through the trial or the joy you pass " 
The harps of gold, the crystal gates that gleam, 

The sea of fire and glass, — 

VII. 

These have no power to hold 
The radiant spirit from the earth set free ; 
And in the air there thrills his voice to-day ! 

We feel his ministry ! 



93 




OUT IN THE YEARS. 

There are beautiful things out in the years. Some of them 
are for everybody. — Hitherto. 

ilH, many the things that are out in the years ! 
There are visions of joy, bright hopes and 
dark fears, 
There are thoughts which the future to good deeds 

may change. 
There is happiness there so blissful and strange, 
There are gleamings of smiles and cloud-mists of tears. 
There are beautiful things far out in the years. 

There are beautiful things far out in the years : 
There is light which the gloom of the present endears, 
There are thoughts which the future to good deeds 

may change, 
There is happiness there so blissful and strange, 
Though the present for us hold but trial and tears, 
There are beautiful things far out in the years. 
94 



OUT IN THE YEARS. 

There are beautiful things far out in the years ; 
Can we not bear bravely some burdens and fears ? 
Can we not be patient if He bids us wait 
For some things, till we meet at the Beautiful Gate ? 
For they all shall be ours when our Saviour appears 
With the beautiful things that are out in the years. 



95 




FOR YOU. 

F you might always have, love, 
The sunshine and the flowers, 
And I the cold and loneliness 



Of bitter wintry hours, — 
If any sweetness in my life 

Would answer to your claim, 
And I might bear whatever loss. 

Whatever wrong or pain 
Would otherwise fall to you, love. 

As falls the autumn rain, — 
I think I could not ask, love. 

For any happier hours. 
Than just to know God gives to you 

The sunshine and the flowers. 



96 




HER LAST DAY. 

IN LOVING MEMORY. 

[J. A. A., Dec. ii, 1891.] 

And with the dawn those angel faces smile 
That I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 

Cardinal Newman. 

I. 

HAT day in its wonderful splendor of light 
Grew fairer as onward it rolled ; 
It dawned in a glory of sapphire and rose, 
It died in a glory of gold. 

II. 
We spoke much of life, of its promises fair. 

Its sweetness, its sorrows, its fear : 
Of its work to be done, of its burdens to bear. 

And we dreamed not one Presence drew near, — 

III. 
We dreamed not there waited, unseen by our eyes, 

The angel to lead her away ; 
Unguessed was that Presence, unheard the replies, 
That thrilled through the air of that day. 

97 7 



HER LAST DAY. 

I 

IV. 
And still all that wonderful glory of light 

Enchanted the fast- gliding hours, 
And an undefined prescience touched her with its spell 

While the sunshine lay low on the flowers, — 

V. 

And the angels whose faces had smiled from the dawn 

Drew near her with beckoning hand ; 
One look, one last word, and with " Victory gained " — 

She had gone to the Wonderful Land. 



98 




TIRED. 

I HE shadows are dimly falling, 

The fireside is glowing and bright, 
Friends kind and dear are around me. 
But I 'm longing for you, love, to-night ; 
I 'm longing to turn away, darling, 
From all the noise and the light. , 

All day, since the early morning, 

I have striven, yet failed to meet 
The rest, and the peace, and the comfort, 

That cometh with work complete, 
And I longed to lay all the burdens 

At the blessed Saviour's feet. 

And now the twilight is falling. 
The fireside is glowing and bright. 

But I turn from all its fair visions 
To one who is absent to-night, — 

Whose presence would bring to me ever 
All I long for of love and of light. 
99 



TIRED. 

Yet why do I turn away sadly, 

When I know that one Friend is so near? 
That His love is ever enfolding, 

His ear ever ready to hear. 
And no pathway can e'er be so darkened 

His grace will not brighten and cheer ! 



lOO 



AN OCTOBER BIRTHDAY. 



[To .] 

We have received divine mysteries, O Lord, rejoicing on the 
Festival of thy Holy Angels. 

— Ko77ian Missal. 




I. 

GAIN October paints the woods 
In hues of gold and amber ; 
Again, against the mossy rocks, 
The scarlet tendrils clamber ; 
The purple shadows seem to thrill 

The air with mystic dreaming, 
And softly shines the silver stream, 
A magic mirror seeming. 



Within its depths the autumn skies, 
As mirrored there, are bluer; 

All nature's subtle, low replies 
Make life seem fairer, truer; 

lOI 



AN OCTOBER BIRTHDAY. 

October's spell enchants the days 

And sings its glad evangels, 
October — Month of Prayer and Praise ! 

Month of the Holy Angels ! 

III. 

Its Festival is yours, O love ! 

Its rare and golden wine. 
Its vino santo for you, dear, 

Is poured as seal and sign — 
As sign and seal of all that 's great 

For you, in life's Elysian : 
Till on your sight, in purple state. 

There dawns the Heavenly Vision ! 



I02 




A PARTING. 

pNTHS of sunny life and fair, 

Days that flitted — none knew where, 
Hours of pleasure, hours of pain, 

Hours that ne'er can come again ; 

They are gone, but do you find 

You can leave them all behind? 

Come not memories evermore 
Drifting round you from that shore ? 
Words which lessened every care, 
Thoughts no other e'er could share. 
Duties that we ever met 
With one thought, — can you forget ? 

Can you calmly thus efface 
From life's tablet every trace 
Of the hopes, and tears, and prayers, 
That we shared 'mid all the cares? 
Can we all these memories smother. 
And " be nothing to each other " ? 
103 



A FARTING. 

Can you break the golden chain 
With its links of joy and pain? 
Do you think it will decay 
As the long years pass away ? 
That the bright strands e'er will fade, 
Though long hidden in the shade ? 

When for us life's task is o'er, 
And we tread its paths no more ; 
When, 'mid shadows dimly falling, 
We shall hear the angels calling, 
As we calmly stand and wait 
Just outside the golden gate, — 

Then will these dark moments seem 
Like a phantom, or a dream. 
In that dawn of purer light 
You will read all things aright, 
False words will not seem as true ; 
Till that morn, — adieu, adieu ! 



104 




ON EASTER EVENING. 

Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." 

[Inscribed to K. F.] 

LONE with the lilies that breathe their sweet- 
ness 
Where violets glow and acacias bloom, 
With the lights turned low for the day's completeness, 
I sit to-night in the silent room ; 

And I hear on the air the wonderful story 
That Passion Week touches newly to life. 

Of His love. His suffering, and His glory, 
And the peace and the joy that follows strife. 

I wait — but I dream no ecstatic morrow 
Of time enchanted by music and flowers ; 

I know that the highest is won through sorrow. 
And I know that duty must burden the hours. 
105 



ON EASTER EVENING. 

And only through duty's fulfilled completeness, 
Through the daily task not refused, but done, 

Shall we tread the way of diviner sweetness, 
And learn the meaning of victory won. 

Ah, the lights burn low, but the lilies shining 
Fragrant and fair where the shadows play 

Teach me to love and live, un repining, 
For humanity's Christ is risen to-day. 



io6 



LILIAN ADELAIDE NEILSON. 

Strew on her roses, roses, 
And never a spray of yew ! 



Her life was turning, turning, 
In mazes of light and sound, 

But for peace her soul was yearning 
And now peace wraps her round. 




HILE the lilies lean above her, 
Look your last, O friend or lover ! 
While the light, unfading, lies 

Gently on the closed eyes, 

And the waving grasses keep 

Watch above her silent sleep ; 

While the English daisies yet 

Linger over Juliet, — 

While the lilies lean above her, 

Look your last, O friend or lover ! 

Not for her the summer's close 
Breaks the calm of that repose. 
107 



LILIAN ADELAIDE NEILSON. 

Nevermore shall wind or wave 
Call her from that lonely grave. 
Angel of the Asphodel 
Guard the sleeper — all is well ! 
O'er her rest the suns shall set, 
Dreamless rest of Juliet ; 
Holy starlight, still and calm, 
Fold her in its voiceless psalm. 

Sunny- tressed, fair Adelaide ! 
In our hearts her grave is made. 
All her loveliness appears 
Only through a rain of tears. 
Only love and tenderness. 
Only prayers and mute caress, 
Only hearts that ne'er forget, 
Guard the grave of Juhet. 
Look your last, O friend or lover. 
Let the angels watch above her ! 



io8 



IN EXTREMIS. 

ROUBLED and weary, doubting, sad, 
With sorrows none may see, 
I only ask that I may come, 

Saviour ! unto Thee. 

For hfe is dark, the way is closed ; 
My days and dreams denied. 

1 turn from all and only seek 
A refuge at Thy side. 

I only ask Thy pitying love, 

I only plead my claim 

That Thou hast promised help to those 

Who love Thy holy name. 

Give me, I pray Thee, life and light 
Through all the darkness wild ; 
And when the lamps of life go out, 
Oh, then take home Thy child ! 



109 




PAX VOBISCUM. 

[To K. F.] 

" And she the rest will comprehend, will comprehend." 



;|Y friend, my love, the summer days are flying ; 
The glories of the sunset fade and die ; 
The starry splendors of the night, replying, 
Breathe silent lessons of the life on high. 



Again the roses tell their mystic story. 
And on the hillside blooms the eglantine. 

And trailing lilies, on the mirrored glory. 

Shine faint and fair along the woodland stream. 

III. 

The bluebell sets its fairy cups a-chiming 
In the deep heart of pine woods as of old ; 

And winds among the trees are all a-rhyming. 
By bird and flower and leaf our life is told. 



FAX VOBISCUM. 



IV. 



Peace be with you — the summer's peace and sweet- 
ness ! 

O friend whose life is dearer than my own ! 
His peace, His love, that holds in its completeness 

All we can dream of — all that we have known. 



Peace be with you ! The words that you have 
treasured, 

I echo back to you, O love, to-day ! 
Words telling of a faith divine, unmeasured. 

In Him who said, " I am with you alway." 




A MEMORY. 

|N autumn evening : purple-tinged 

The dusky night closed round us, 
Hushed into silence by the spell 
With which that music bound us. 

O winds of might and stars of night 

That listened to her singing ! 
Through all the next day's dreamy light 

That thrilling voice was ringing. 

Through all the maze of magic mists 

One haunting face before me, 
With topaz crowned, and amethysts. 

Bent, like a spirit, o'er me. 

The air was vocal with its rhymes, 
Throbbing with wondrous measures. 

With silent strains of chants and chimes. 
Fragments of voiceless treasures. 



112 



A MEMORY. 

The organ's deep and thrilling tone 

Upon the air still lingers, 
The dream was all the poet's own, 

Touched by her dainty fingers. 

The wild waves break upon the shore, 
The " cold gray stones " revealing : 

love ! your poet's songs bring more 
Than words can tell of feeling. 

The " tender grace " of long- gone days 
Its mystic spell is bringing. 

1 walk in memory's magic maze 
And listen to your singing ! 



U 



113 




IN MOUNT AUBURN. 

" O World ! so few the years we live, 
Would that the life that thou dost give 
Were life indeed ! " 

OU have told me her story to-day, 
And we stand by her grave ; 
And we talk of it here by the way, 
All that love could not save. 
And above us the sunshine is fair, 
And the elm branches wave. 

Does he think of her now, do you know? 

In that far, foreign land, — 
When at some pictured shrine he may kneel. 

Or before it may stand? 
Does he see that fair girl as she leaned 

With a rose in her hand ? 
114 



IN MOUNT AUBURN. 

You have told me her story to-day; 

A sad story of fate ; 
And we talk of it here by the way, 

As we loiter and wait. 
Ah, death brings its peace at the last ! 

Let us go. It is late ! 



"5 




A CHRISTMAS WISH. 
[To .] 

For all my life is love, 

And love thy life shall be ; 
Look where the dawn-rose blooms, 

And there my signal see. 

Edith Thomas. 

i|H, love ! if wish of mine might cast 
Your Christmas horoscope, 
How glad the days, how fair the years, 
How full of joy and hope ! 

Couleur de rose should be the air ! 

And riches, honors, power. 
The wine and radiance of life 

Attend your every hour. 

The splendor of success should shine 

On every purpose o'er you ; 
The goddess Happiness should pour 

Libations out before you. 
ii6 



A CHRISTMAS WISH. 

The joy- bells of the mystic skies 
Should peal their fairy chiming ; 

Sunshine and roses on your way 
Set all the days a-rhyming. 

Yet wish of mine were poor beside 

The holiday Evangels, 
That guide your feet in noble ways 

Led by the Christmas angels. 

May all their purposes for you 
Find in your work completeness, 

And every year enrich your life 
With added wealth and sweetness ! 

All the glad praise of Christmas days 

Tell you its happy story ! 
Before you rise the Paradise 

Where reigns the King of Glory ! 



AN IMMORTAL LOVE 

[The Taj Mahal is the stately tomb of the wife of Shah Jehan, 
and over its entrance is the inscription, " In Memory of an Immor- 
tal Love." The eminent author and traveller, Mr. M. M. Ballou, 
relates how, standing under its dome, he recited " The Psalm of 
Life," and heard it echoed back as by angel voices.] 




DREAM of marble in the azure floating ! 
What spell enchants us as we gaze above ? 
Pass softly through the portals — read their 
legend, — 
" In memory of an immortal love." 

Backward the ages roll in stately splendor 
Since here a woman's form was left alone, 

Shrined fair and stately in its lofty beauty 
Where angel voices whisper from the dome. 

Since then whole nations have been born and scattered. 
Kingdoms have risen, fallen, from their state ; 

Yet in this sculptured silence she, unheeding, 
Knows not the clang of arms, the clash of Fate. 
ii8 



AN IMMORTAL LOVE. 

Yet had she not on earth its fairest treasure? 

Nor sweeter gift could ask from heaven above ; 
Held tenderly in life, in death, and sleeping 

" In memory of an immortal love." 



119 




AT PEACE. 

YING low and lying fair, 

With the sunshine in her hair, 



With her forehead lily-pale 
(E'en your words cannot avail) — 

Not your prayer her slumber breaks ; 
Not to touch of yours she wakes. 

Eyes grown dim with Death's eclipse. 
Folded hands, unanswering lips — 

Gaze, — Love's care can never cease, 
Though she hath Love's perfect peace. 



120 



A TWILIGHT MEMORY. 




THINK of her, I think of her. 

Across the way the shadows stir ; 

The sunset fades in hnes of gold ; 
The winter twiUght, gray and cold, 
Falls o'er the landscape's pictured light. 
I wait, and think of her to-night. 

I wait within the lingering glow,' 
And watch the sunset burning low. 
I see, beyond the Brookline hills, 
A far-off land — a life that thrills 
And sets my fancy all astir. 
As here I wait and think of her. 

I think of her as meeting there 

An undreamed need, an unguessed care ; 

And still serene and undismayed. 

Bringing her thought and strength to aid. 

And thus — as Truth's interpreter, 

I think of her, I think of her. 



A TWILIGHT MEMORY. 

I think of her in that far land, 
Through twilight shades I see her stand; 
The lily face, the waving hair, 
Eyes shining in their radiance rare ; 
Fair hands, that never yet were still 
If needs were near they could fulfil. 

love ! from whom my life has caught 
The purpose of a higher thought. 
Whose fair ideal womanhood 
Reveals to me the perfect good, 

Still come to me when day is past ; 
Still hold your grand ideals fast. 

The shadows deepen o'er the way, 
The golden light has changed to gray) 

1 wait, and breathe for her one prayer, — 
God's love be with her everywhere ; 

His peace be e'er her comforter, 
I pray, as still I dream of her. 




FOR FLORENCE. 

O "that new world which is the old," 
We wait an entrance, love, to-night. 
The year is gone, its story told. 
And still within the purple light, 
Hand clasped in hand, we linger where 
The open casement frames our view, 
And hear the chimes on midnight air 
Ring out the old, ring in the new. 

The city's pulse beats faint and still, 

The holy stars look calmly down ; 
We feel the touch, we catch the thrill 

That lieth softly o'er the town. 
In old King's Chapel prayers are said, 

With lights turned low and organ lending 
A requiem for the year now dead, 

A psean for the New Year blending. 

We linger in the window, love, 

While all the city's chimes are ringing, — 
The lights below, the lights above, — 

And wonder what the year is bringing. 
123 



FOR FLORENCE. 

What will it hold of love and faith, 

Of high ideal, earthly treasure ? 
What voice shall guide with its " Thus saith "? 

What hands shall heap its fullest measure ? 

Ah, vainly fall my questions, dear. 

The midnight silences are round us ; 
The Angel of the glad New Year 

E'en as I ask has paused and crowned us. 
"The present hour is all thou hast," 

He whispers, " for thy sure possessing ! 
The only wisdom, hold it fast, 

Until each hour shall give its blessing." 



124 




SINCE SEPTEMBER. 

ELOVED one, who entered, last Autumn, 
God's own rest and peace, 
Ah ] what have the months brought unto 
you 
Since your glad release ? 

And what have you seen of His glory, 

Ineffably bright? 
How near have you been to the Presence 

Of love and of light ? 

When you rose, free from fetters of earth-life. 

And saw on the bed 
The pale, lifeless form in its silence, 

And heard, " She is dead," — 

When you stood in the chamber of sorrow. 

In the hushed, darkened room, 
With its weird changing phantoms and shadows. 

Its silence and gloom, — 
125 



SINCE SEPTEMBER. 

Did a thrill of heavenly rapture. 

Of ecstasy strange, 
Come over your soul in that moment 

Of wonderful change ? 

When that which was you lay extended 

Whitely robed for the tomb, 
With the folded hands clasping pale lilies 

Shining fair through the gloom, — 

Did you mark all our tears and our anguish ? 

Did it grieve you to see 
That we took no note of your presence ? 

Your sweet ministry? 



The Autumn came on in its glory. 
The maples burned bright; 

And brooded o'er hillside and valley 
The magical light. 

Again through low-lying shadows 

Gleam faintly the hills, 
Again all the air a strange hush 

Of expectancy fills. 

126 



SINCE SEPTEMBER. 

The rare, perfect days you so treasured, 

We feel you are near, 
We wait, half expectant and silent, 

Your footsteps to hear. 

Canst thou come, O beloved ! and tell us 
That which ne'er hath been told ? 

Can there not be again sweet communion 
For us, as of old ? 

I know you are near, when my spirit 

Perceives purer life ; 
When messages come from the angels 

With high meaning rife. 

Ah, what to you has this Autumn 

In its loveliness been. 
If its beauty to us is so wondrous 

Through our vision dim ? 

You would tell us all, my beloved, 

That to you is so clear ; 
Your love is as pure and as perfect 

As when you were here. 
127 



SINCE SEPTEMBER. 

You read all our questioning longings, 

Our fear and our awe : 
But between the dead and the living, 

God fixeth a law. 

Not yours is the power to o'ercome it : 

Death is dumb to us here, 
Because Life is deaf to its meanings, 

Its messages clear. 

So, love, though you answer my longings. 

When my heart calls for you, 
And your patient love ever enfolds me, 

So tender and true, — 

My eyes are too dim to behold you, 

Though you are so near ; 
But soon, in a radiant dawning, 

Will all things grow clear. 

For soon among flowers that are fadeless. 

White lilies of peace. 
We shall hold sweet communion again, love. 

That never shall cease. 

128 




FROM FIRE TO FROST. 

[The Sana plant of the Himalayas was once a flower of the 
tropics, growing near volcanos.] 

LOWER of the burning lava 
Ages and ages ago 
Springing from depths volcanic 
From heat and fervor and glow, 

Now the flower of the ice-world, 

What of grace hast thou lost ? 
Leaving the summer's glory, 

Turning from fire to frost. 

Passion and strife are over ; 

Pain is transformed to peace, 
The fever of restless daring 

Now shall forever cease. 

Yet of all that intense emotion 
Not a pulse-beat hath been lost 

Through thy crystallized transformation, 
Flower of the fire and the frost ! 

129 9 




A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. 

HOUGH I sit in darkness this Christmas eve, 
I know that the world is fair, 
And the musical chime of the Christmas 
bells 
Will ring on the morning air. 

And though I have neither gems nor gold 

As tokens to place before you, 
I will not repine, for Love greater than mine 

Its gladness and grace throws o'er you. 

And I will arise and rejoice to-day 

In the world's glad loving and giving. 
And will sing a song in my heart alway 

For the untold richness of living. 

For the comfort of Hope and the beauty of Love, 

For the Faith that faileth us never ; 
For the Peace on Earth and Good-will toward men, 

And the Star that shineth forever ! 



130 




ISABELLE. 

[In Memoriam.] 

Thy voice from inmost dreamland calls ; 
The realms of sleep thou makest fair. 

William Watson. 

I. 

HE summer comes again — You do not come, 
And yet we know with you that all is well, 
And that your love is with us as of old, — 
Isabelle ! 

n. 

What have you found the other side of life? 

What of its sweet, strange mysteries could you teU ? 
Beyond the sunrise, past the morning star, — 
Isabelle ! 

HI. 

The summer comes again with tender bloom ; 

With golden sunlight, silver rain that fell 
O'er emerald verdure, where pale roses leaned, — 
Isabelle ! 
131 



ISABELLE. 

IV. 

The rose and gold of dawn o'er sapphire seas ; 

The sunset glories that you loved so well ! 
The air all shimmering in its opal tints, — 
Isabelle ! 

V. 

All these have come again, but not your voice ! 
Yet with you, love, we know that all is well ! 
The light dies softly over shore and sea, — 
Isabelle ! 



132 




TWO DAYS. 

OU gave me roses, love, last night, 

When the sea was blue and the skies were 

bright j 

And the earth was aglow with a golden light 

When you gave me roses, love, last night. 

<i 
Lilies I lay by your side to-day, 

And your face — it is colder and whiter than they ; 

And I linger and Hsten and wonder and pray, 

As I bring you lihes to-day. 



^33 



